RANGELEY – A Rangeley man shot himself in the head as state fire investigators and Rangeley police entered his home Thursday to arrest him on an arson charge related to a Coplin Plantation fire last week, a public safety spokesman said.

When authorities went into 53-year-old Charles Brown’s home on Summer Road at about noon, they heard a gunshot and then retreated and called the Maine State Police Tactical Team, said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Despite his head wound, Brown was able to walk outside to the driveway and surrender to police at about 2:15 p.m., he said.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office, including Sgt. Joel Davis and investigators Rick Shepard and Christopher Stanford, have been investigating a May 3 arson that destroyed a garage and apartment on Route 16 in Coplin Plantation.

The apartment had been vacant for about two years and the garage was used for storage, Eustis Fire Chief Rusty Fearon said last week.

When firefighters arrived on the scene about 5 a.m. that day, the building, owned by Craig Dam of Stratton, was engulfed in flames, Fearon said.

Investigators had been looking for Brown as a suspect in the investigation.

Brown suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, McCausland said. His whereabouts could not be varified Thursday night.

He will be charged with arson and taken to Franklin County jail in Farmington after he’s released from the hospital, McCausland said.